


Unkindness

by uumuu



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Treat Fic, Trick or Treat 2015, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 04:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5116175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uumuu/pseuds/uumuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Celegorm wants to teach Celebrimbor how to hunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unkindness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [victoriousscarf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/victoriousscarf/gifts).



“I don't like hunting,” Celebrimbor says, frowning at the dagger in his right hand.

“I know, Tyelpo,” Celegorm smiles, “but it's a skill as any other, and you never know when it might come in handy.”

Celebrimbor turns the dagger left and right. It's his father's workmanship, made expressly for him, and he likes it. He's learning to make similar blades, and plans to become even better than his father at it. He just never plans to use them on anything that breathes. There's a dissonance, something not quite right somewhere. Aman is supposed to be the land of bliss, not a land where animals are routinely killed by hunters, with the blessing of the Valar themselves. He still has disturbing memories from when he had seen one of their servants skin a deer in the courtyard of their own home.

“I will teach you how to kill any target without causing unnecessary suffering to them,” Celegorm resumes, tying their travelling bags to the saddles of the horses that are to take them out in the wild, “though you will have to ask either Pityo or Telvo for further instruction with the bow. They're lethal with it.”

Celebrimbor winces at the notion. “How can _you_ kill them? Can't you speak to them? Or is that false?”

Celegorm ties knot after knot, unfazed. “I do, I can.”

“Would you be able to kill an elf then?” Celebrimbor blurts. He realises it's probably too harsh a question when Celegorm casts him a sharp glance. But his point still stands, and he asks, “ _where_ 's the difference?”

“There's no true difference, I suppose,” Celegorm says after a while, patting the horse's neck since he's done with the bags. “Animals kill each other too, sometimes for food sometimes for less compelling reasons.”

Celebrimbor frowns again. “I don't like it,” he repeats. “Can't we just go on a trip, without killing anything, just eating the coimas Mom made us?”

Celegorm sighs. He would say 'no', but he knows Celebrimbor, knows the determination in his eyes, and he can't help indulge him. He takes the dagger from his hands and returns it to its sheath. Then he pulls Celebrimbor towards himself, hugging him with one arm and ruffling his still rather short hair with his other hand. “All right, we will only do what you want to do. ...maybe once you're older you'll change your mind.”

Celebrimbor beams. He doesn't think he will ever change his mind, but he's managed to convince his uncle and it makes him happy.


End file.
